Writing Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old writing quotes, writing sayings, and writing proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way. Richard Harding Davis
Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. E.L. Doctorow
Writing is always a process of discovery. I never know the end, or even the events on the next page, until they happen. There's a constant interplay between the imagining and shaping of the story. Kim Edwards
The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write. Ernest Gaines
The desire to write grows with writing. Desiderius Erasmus
Writing the art of communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye is the great invention of the world. Abraham Lincoln
Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words. Mark Twain
Writing is a struggle against silence. Carlos Fuentes
Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. Jules Renard
Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. E. L. Doctorow
Writing is like breathing, it's possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what. Julia Cameron
Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts. Larry L. King
Writing is a process, a journey into memory and the soul. Isabel Allende
Writing is really a way of thinking not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet. Toni Morisson
Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either. Meg Cabot
If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it. Tennessee Williams
All writing comes by the grace of God. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Anne Lamott
Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. E. L. Doctorow
You fail only if you stop writing. Ray Bradbury
An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one's own prose. Barbara Tuchman
Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. Jane Yolen
By writing much, one learns to write well. Robert Southey
Writing is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination. Louise Brooks
Good writing is a kind of skating which carries off the performer where he would not go. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It takes a lot of bad writing to get to a little good writing. Truman Capote
Best advice on writing I've ever received. Finish. Peter Mayle
For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me. Jack Dann
Writing is communication, not self-expression. Nobody in this world wants to read your diary except your mother. Richard Peck
There is no great writing, only great rewriting. Justice Brandeis